The moment Dante entered the truck and closed the passenger door, he exhaled, "I like him, Ralphy." Raphael's eyebrows raised, blowing out the smoke from his cigarette before chuckling quietly and driving away from the apartment parking lot. "He kissed me today and I didn't stop him."

"Dante," Raphael shook his head. "You know not to catch feelings for people you can't have."

"I can have him though," Dante retorted, rolling his eyes when Raphael scoffed. "I think he likes me back."

"Our lives are way too dangerous for you to bring a high school kid into your world—"

"He's nineteen, he's not that much younger than me. Besides, if I asked him to live with me, I think he'd say yes."

Raphael practically choked on air. "Move in with us, you mean? At our base? The one that gets raided practically every year and we have to fight for you lives to get out? That one?"

Dante slowly shook his head, glancing elsewhere. All he had wanted was a bit of hope for something he believed in, but Raphael was making him feel as if it was the dumbest mistake he could have ever done. "Whatever Ralphy."

"I'm not telling you this to make you feel bad, Dante." When Dante failed to response, he exhaled a long sigh before adding, "You know I have your back the most, out of everyone."

"Right because my dad pays you to do that." He rolled his eyes, leaning his elbow against the side of the door. "Not because you care."

"Why are you talking to me as if I'm not the one that's stopped you from ending up in jail?" He was evidently growing offended, narrowing his eyes. "Or as if I didn't carry you to the hospital while you were bleeding out in my hands after your own dad beat the fuck out of you for—"

"You wouldn't have done any of that if it hadn't been for money."

"Yes I would have, Dante." Raphael angrily threw his cigarette out of the window before rolling it upwards. "Stop being a brat."

"All you are is a full-time nanny." He knew this was going to hurt Raphael who inhaled a sharp breath, glancing towards Dante to see if he had meant it. From the way his teeth gritted and he glared back, it was obvious he had meant every word he said. "So act like one."

Raphael eyed him for a moment, noticing how much his jaw clenched and unclenched, struggling to breath by the amount of time he exhaled through his nose in a rugged breath. That was when he shook his head and muttered, "You're scared."

"I'm not scar—"

"That's why you're being rude to me," Raphael interrupted him, chuckling quietly. "This is stressing you out."

"No it's not."

Raphael rolled his eyes. "Say whatever you want Dante, but being an asshole to me isn't going to change the fact that you're falling for this kid, even though you know you can't."

"And why can't I?!"

"Because he's going to get killed, Dante," he snapped, unable to maintain his composure from the arrogant tone Dante used. It was as if the memories they shared meant nothing. "They all do, every single one of them get used and killed because of you or by you."

"Only the ones who've betrayed me."

"Name one that hasn't." He noticed Dante's lips seal for a second as he searched for a name through his mind. However, when none appeared, he simply scoffed and turned away from Raphael, unwilling to admit he was at fault. "They all die, every single one of them. The only reason I'm alive is because I've been through this life before and know what to expect—they don't."

"I can teach him to be like me."

Raphael waved his hand dismissively. "You can do whatever you want Dante, but Nate's going to die if you keep him around and you know that, and that's what is scaring you."

***

"What are you doing here?"

Nate had spent an hour staring at the ceiling after Dante had left. He was left speechless and starstruck from what Dante had done to him, all the different feelings he had made him feel. Every single inch of his skin had grown warm, every time his hot breath had crossed the tiny hairs on his flesh, he felt it as if it was a burn. His fingers gripping around his forearm, pinning him down to the bed, or every time he pushed himself up to connect their lips for another lustful make-out—Nate couldn't help but replay those scenes over and over and over again in his mind.

Even though they didn't have sex, he felt as if they had made love. Afterwards, Dante fell against his chest and the didn't say a word to each other, simply letting their bodies melt into one another's arms and letting their heartbeats synchronize. When Dante stood to leave, Nate resisted the urge to call him back, lowering his gaze and sharing a cold goodbye before he exited the bedroom and the front door closing resounded across the apartment soon enough.

While he was staring mindlessly at the ceiling, he didn't realize an hour had passed until his thoughts were paused from the sudden knocking on the door. He rapidly threw on his shirt, oddly feeling embarrassed that Dante had kept him paralyzed for that long, and rapidly reached the door without even thinking of seeing who was behind the door.

And it was none other than his arch nemesis who pushed open the door instantly, causing him to stumble backwards before storming inside as if it was his own apartment.

"This is a nice place," Eric laughed, eyeing the surroundings and wiping his finger across the lamp, nodding his head when there was no trace of dust residue on his finger. "How can you afford a place like this?"